Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
2~
Sun visor for a motor vehicle
The present invention relatss to a sun visor for
motor vehicles comprising a shield covered with a covering
of plastics material and provided with a mirror fixed in
a cavi-ty provided in the shield, the covering being, for
example, composed of polyvinyl chloride (PVC).
In ?resent sun visors, the mirror is usually fixed
to the covering of PVC by means of a metal or plastics
frame which is itself maintained in position by a rigid
PVC plate welded to the coveriny PVC. After positioning
of the mirror, the tabs of the frame are bent over.
This device is expensive owing to the fact that it
requires considerable labour, intermediate stocks and
handlings.
Further, it is not satisfactory in respect of the
increasingly severe new standards of quality since it gi-
ves rise to the following problems :
~oor temperature behaviour, deformation of the
PVC beyond 75C while motor vehicle con~tructors at present
0 require 125C without deformation ;
noise of the mirror in its cavity ;
defect in the covering of PVC due to the marking
of the corners of the frame.
An object of the invention is to overcome these
drawbacks.
The invention provides a sun visor wherein the mirror
~2~
2 --
is disposed in a detachable support which may be fixed in
the cavity by clipping on retaining means connected to the
shield.
In one embodiment, the present invention provides in
5 a sun visor fitted with a mirror for a motor vehicle that
improvement consisting of a shield having a cavity; a
covering of plastic material covering said shield; a
mirror slidably mounted in the cavity of said shield; and
means for fixing the mirror in the cavity comprising a
detachable support having a reinforcement whose periphery
matches the contour of the mirror on which the mirror is
slidably mounted and on which the mirror can be fixed in
said cavity, retaining means defining at least one
opening, tabs on said reinforcement which are capable of
engaging in the retaining means to elastically clip
thereon by hooklng on the edges of said opening in the
retaining means.
In another embodiment of the invention, the support
is formed by a reinforcement in which the mirror may be
slid, and this reinforcement is provided with tabs capable
of being engaged in retaining means so as to clip therein
elastically by hooking on the edges of at least one
opening formed in the latter.
. ~3~
.. .
" ~27~28~
- 2a -
According to a particular embodiment, the retaining
means are formed by a rigid insert which is preferably of
metal and covered with a film of plastics foam constitut-
ing the shield and provided with at least one opening on
S the opposite edges of which the elastic tabs of the support
of the mirror can be clipped through the thickness of the
plastics covering of the shield.
The positioning of the mirror which has previously
been slid into its support reinforcement is very simple
and rapid, and this considerably reduces the required
labour.
Further features and advantages of the invention will
be apparent from the following description, with reference
to the accompanying drawings, which illustrate two embodi-
ments thereof by way of non-limiting examples:
Fig. l is an exploded perspective view, with a part
cut away, of a first embodiment of the sun visor according
to the invention and of its mirror which is partly engaged
~0
~27~281
in its support ;
Fig. 2 is a perspective view to an enlarged scale
relative to Fig. 1, of the support reinforcement of the
mirror and of a metal insert provided for disposing in
the cavity of the sun visor for retaining the support rein-
forcement of the mirror by clipping ;
Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view, with parts
cut away, of the sun visor of Figs. 1 and 2 and of the
support reinforcement of the mirror ;
Fig. 4 is a top plan view of the means for retair.ing
the mirror and its support formed in a sun visor according
to a second embodiment of the invention, and
Fig. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view taken on
line V-V of Fig. 4, of a mirror dis osed in a corresponding
support.
The sun visor shown in Figs. 1 to 3 is intended for
motor vehicles and it comprises a shield 1 preferably made
from injected foam covered with a covering 2 of a suitable
plastics material, such as a sheat of polyvinyl chloride
(PVC),~and provided with a mirror 3 fixed in a cavity 4
provided in the shièld 1.
A rod 5 having both end portions embedded in the
shield 1 enables the sun visor to be pivotally connected
to the roof of the vehicle.
The mirror 3 is disposed in a detachable support 6
which can be fixed in the cavity 4 by clipping onto retain-
ing means 7 rigid with the shield 1. In this embodiment,
~27~%~3~
the support o is formed by a reinforcement whose periphery
matches the contour of the mirror 3, which is rectanyular
in the presently-described embodiment and may be slid into
the reinforcement 6. The latter therefore comprises a pe-
ripheral edge 8 which matches the contour of the mirror 3and a rib 9 which is perpendicular to the edge 8 and ex~nds
throughout the periphery of the latter, except for a small
side to which corresponds therefore an opening (Fig. 2)
allowing the introduction of the mirror 3 in the reinfor-
cement 6. The large sides of the edge 8 are connected bytwo transverse bars 11, each of which is provided with a
pair of tabs 12 which extend in a direction perpendicular
to the general plane of the bars 11 and the edge 8, and a
pair of longitudinal strips 13 which are parallel to each
other and extend substantially in the same plane as the
edge 8 and the bars 11.
Bevels 13a are provided on the ends of the strips 13
facing toward the inserting opening OL the mirror 3 so tnat
the mirror 3 can slide on the bevelled ends 13a when it is
introduced in the reinforcement 6, between the inner peri-
phery of the edge 8 on which it is maintained in bearing
relation by the strips 13. The latter also include for
this purpose end portions 13b provided on the other side
of the bars 11 to the bevels 13a.
The two pairs of tabs 12 are provided at their ends
with bevelled projections 14 whereby it is possible to
clip the tabs 12, by the elastic separation of the latter,
1270281
onto the o;oposite edges 15 of two openings 16 each formed
in facing relation to a pair of tabs 12 in a rigid insert
constituting the aforementioned means 7 for retaining the
support 6 and the mirror 3.
The insert 7 is preferably of metal and provided, in
the presently-described embodiment, with three circular
openings 17 through which are adapted to extend bosses 18,
19 (Fig. 1) of injected foam acting as supports for the
mirror 3.
During the manufacture of the shield 1 by injection
of foam, the metal insert 7 is placed in the bottom of the
cavity 4 and covered with a film of foam, then, with the
whole of the shield l,it i, covered with the covering 2 of
PVC. The mirror 3 is slid into the reinforcement 6 between
the strips 13 and the edge 8 against which it is applied.
Thereafter, it is merely necesaary to clip the tabs 12 by
their projections 14 onto the opposite edges 15 of the
openings 16, the inclined surfaces of the projections 14
sliding on these edges, while the tabs 12 move toward each
other and then elastically move apart and grip the insert
7 through the sheet 2.
The mirror 3 is then in position.
The reinforcing support 6 is made from a plastics
material having a good behaviour with respect to tempera-
ture, for example from six/six polyamide with a glassfiller which re,ists temperatures which may exceed 105C.
The simplicity of the m~unting af the mirror 3 and
- -
~270281
its support 6 results in a considerable saving in labour
and therefore reduces the cost of constructiny the sun
visor. Further, the use of a support 6 made in a single
piece from a suitable plastics material, such as that men-
tioned hereinbefore, improves the behaviour of the sunvisor fixing system as concerns temperature. The strength
of this fasteniny also constitutes an improvement over the
prior art in the same way as the aesthetic appearance of
the mirror 3 only the frame, constituted by the outer side
of the periphery edge 8~being visibla when the assembly 3,6
has been placed in position.
In the second embodiment of the sun visor illustra-
ted in Figs. 4 and 5, the means for retaining the reinfor-
cement 6 are formed by two plates 21 which are in one piece
with a semi-shell 22 constituting one half of the shield
of the sun visor according to French patent 81 18233 of
the Applicant, this half-shell being made, for example,
from polypropylene.
The two bars 21 extend transversely in a cavity 23
- 20 of the semi-shell 22 and are each provided with an opening
24 on the opposite edges 24a of which are capable of clip-
ping the two pairs of elastic tabs 12 (Fig. 5).
The manner of assembling is the same as in the first
embodiment, and the inner periphery of the peripheral edge
8 bears against the corresponding periphery of the cavity
23.
By way of a modification, it-~ould be possible to
~27~28~
-- 7 --
provide only a single pair of tabs 12 for clipping to the
reinforcement 6, and a single corresponding opening 16 or
24, provided that these tabs and the edges of the associa-
ted opening are of course sufficiently spaced apart to en-
sure a suitable fastening of the mirror 3. In the embodi-
ment shown in Figs. 4 and 5, the two transverse plates 21
would therefore be replaced by a single plate provided with
an opening of sufficient width.
